Coupled Superconducting Phase and Ferromagnetic Order Parameter Dynamics

Abstract

Via a direct coupling between the magnetic order parameter and the singlet Josephson supercurrent, we detect spin-wave resonances, and their dispersion, in ferromagnetic Josephson junctions in which the usual insulating or metallic barrier is replaced with a weak ferromagnet. The coupling arises within the Fraunhofer interferential description of the Josephson effect, because the magnetic layer acts as a time dependent phase plate. A spin-wave resonance at a frequency ws implies a dissipation that is reflected as a depression in the current-voltage curve of the Josephson junction when hbar ws = 2eV. We have thereby performed a resonance experiment on only 10^7 Ni atoms.